The present invention relates to the storage of an image carried by a document for later retrieval and, in particular, to apparatus providing for both microfilming a document and the production of digital signals representative of the document image for storage in a memory.
Microfilming of documents for long term storage is well known and is used by many businesses. The development of very high capacity memory devices, such as magnetic tape and optical or magnetic discs, for the storage of electronic digital signals has made it economically feasible to store information in accordance with digital signals obtained from the scan of a large number of documents for retrieval at a later time for the production of the images carried by the documents. A hard copy, such as can be obtained by the use of facsimile machine techniques, or a temporary viewable image, such as can be available by the use of a cathode ray tube (CRT), can be produced.
Since both forms of storage may be required for some documents, it is desirable that the handling of the documents be minimized for accomplishing both forms of storage and that such storage be carried out in such a manner that the locations of the document on microfilm and in memory can be readily cross-referenced, if desired. It is important also that the complexity of the apparatus for processing the documents be minimized.